


Another Angel Down

by Starblind



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Band Fic, Comedy, F/F, F/M, Heavy Metal, Modern Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan, Music, Philosophy, Rock and Roll, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-06-06 21:29:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6770911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starblind/pseuds/Starblind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Historia is looking for something new in her life. She's not quite sure what it is, but she knows she needs to break out of her comfort zone and expand her horizons to find it. So despite being quite possibly the least metal person in the city, she auditions for the lead singer of Utgard, a metal band led by a guitarist named Ymir. Metal or not, nothing can stop Historia from trying to be the best rocker she can be and to discover what makes her happy. </p><p>*Modern Day Rock Band AU*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dying for an Angel

**Author's Note:**

> So I finally caved and wrote an AU fic. Honestly, I never thought this would happen. However, as soon as Hajime Isayama said in an interview that Historia would listen to power metal, my mind went down dark avenues from which I couldn't return. Enjoy.

"Hey Ymir, check out the rack on that one."

Ymir felt Reiner's large elbow nudge her in the ribs, snapping her out of an unfocused daze that had kept her eyes glued to the sidewalk the pair was loitering on.

"The redhead across the street. See her?"

Ymir leaned against the old brick building behind them and followed his pointing finger to catch several glimpses of a remarkably well-endowed young woman in the gaps between cars passing by on the busy city street that separated them. She shrugged. 

"Eh, not my type." 

"What?!" Reiner looked almost offended. "You've got to be kidding me! That's top shelf stuff right there! I would do unspeakable things to that. Unspeakable!"

"Dude, you're fooling literally no one. Maybe if you didn't try so hard all the time, people wouldn't think you're such a homo." 

Reiner rolled his eyes. "Look who's talking."

"At least I'm honest about it. And the tank top doesn't really help your case, buddy." She couldn't help but smirk as Reiner scoffed and looked down at the tight red tank he was wearing.

"Hey! Tank tops are official and _acceptable_ drummer gear." 

"Just like your cute little wristbands?" She took a drag of her cigarette and pointed at the damp fabric around his wrists.

"You know I use them to keep the sweat out of my eyes. Unlike you, I get a full body workout when I play. Although I guess working your fingers is all you care about." He returned fire with a smirk of his own as he stepped on his finished cigarette. 

"Ain't that the truth," she conceded as she pulled her phone out of her jeans pocket to check the time. "She's late."

Reiner leaned over to double check her conclusion. "You told her the right place?"

"Of course I did." Ymir took one long final drag of her cigarette before flicking it to the ground in irritation. 

"She probably just bailed," said Reiner.

Ymir shook her head as she put her phone away. "I don't think she'll bail. She seemed _really_ excited in her emails. Like... weirdly excited."

"Maybe you scared her off with your eight million requirements." He flipped open the carton of cigarettes he had jammed into his left wrist band and pulled one out.

"I'm not _that_ demanding." She began counting on her fingers. "Singer. Plays keys. High range. Frontman qualities. Loves metal. No drugs or drama. Is that really asking too much?"

Reiner cupped his hand to cover the flame of his lighter as he lit up. He blew out a puff of smoke and raised his eyebrows at her. "In this city? Give me a break." He rotated his head from side to side to crack his neck and return to his people watching. "What was her name again?"

"Historia."

"What kind of name is Historia?"

"I actually think it's kind of cool."

"You would, _Ymir._ Sounds like the name of an ugly chick to me." He turned to her with a grin and elbowed her arm. "How much you want to bet she's even uglier than you are?"

"Then you might actually stand a chance for once." She quickly whipped a finger at him. "But you know the rules. Keep it out of the band, perv."

"Oh, come on! You don't have any problem with Bertolt pursuing Annie! Why do _I_ have to follow special rules?" He pressed a hand to his barely covered chest in exasperation. 

"First of all, Bert's 'pursuing' consists of staring and awkwardly complimenting her when he can manage to formulate a sentence. Annie is _never_ going to put out." 

Reiner sighed and hung his head. "Yeah."

"And secondly, the thought of you having sex with _anyone_ disgusts me," she added casually.

Reiner looked frustrated, but before he could retort, the sound of hurried footsteps on hard pavement drew their attention to a tiny blonde girl running toward them in a panic. She was wearing a white blouse under a pink sweater and a skirt that looked way too formal for a metal audition. There was no way it could be her. 

"I'm here! I'm here!" she called frantically to them as she waved a small arm in the air. 

It _was_ her.

Ymir and Reiner's mouths dropped open in unison. Not only was this apparent singer not ugly, she was gorgeous, well, in an adorable kind of way. Their eyes immediately darted to each other and they each realized what the other was thinking. Reiner took his chance. His arm shot into the air with a wave. 

"Hell-"

"Hey there! Take your time!" Ymir's saccharine tone was saturated in her brand of 'charm.' She subtly turned to Reiner and darted her tongue at him as he gritted his teeth.

"Hypocrite," he hissed under his breath before the young woman finally stopped before them, panting. 

"Oh my goodness, I'm _so_ sorry I'm late. I missed the bus and there was so much traffic." She struggled to catch her breath as she clutched her small purse strap as if for support.

"Not a problem at all!" Ymir took a step in front of Reiner. "We didn't even notice you were late. We were just out here hanging out and having a smoke. Want one?" She started rummaging through her pocket. 

"Oh, no thank you, I don't smoke." She seemed genuinely appreciative of the offer, however. After a few seconds, her face became less flushed as she started to catch her breath. 

"Neither do I! Nasty habit, really. I've been trying to get this guy to quit for _years._ " She immediately abandoned her cigarette hunt and slapped Reiner's shoulder. He glared. "Historia Reiss, right? I'm Ymir, the one you've been emailing with."

Historia reached out to shake Ymir's extended hand with a warm smile. "It's so great to meet you in person. And you're the band leader?"

"That's right. Leader of Utgard, axe woman, chief songwriter and lyricist, vocalist, et cetera. I wear many hats." She folded her arms smugly as Historia beamed.

"That's amazing. You all sound so talented from what I could find online."

"We've assembled a supergroup for sure." Ymir noticed Historia look past her at Reiner, who at that point was just waiting for an introduction. "The hulking gorilla behind me is Reiner Braun, our drummer, if you couldn't tell by the tank top. Despite his primitive, ape-like intelligence, his super simian strength allows him to pound the skins harder than anyone I know."

Reiner once again rolled his eyes and took Historia's tiny hand in his own to shake. "Pleasure. And I'm, uh, actually a lot smarter than that. She's just joking around." He also attempted to sound incredibly outgoing and shifted to positions that allowed him to subtly flex his muscles.

Historia opened her mouth to speak but Ymir once again stepped between them. "Charming. Very charming. Anyway, we've been dying for lead vocalist for a while, so I'm glad you answered my ad. Let's start with a little preliminary test I like to do when I interview potential bandmates. Don't worry, it's an easy one. What is this?" She pointed at the logo on her baggy t-shirt that read _Iron Maiden._

Historia looked down at Ymir's chest and studied it. "Iron Maiden? Um, is that a video game?"

Ymir blinked. "Next question!" She shook her hands through the air as if to disperse the previous one into the ether. "Do you listen to _any_ metal?" 

Historia looked down at her feet in embarrassment and clutched the strap of her purse even tighter. "To be honest, not as much as I would like... But I recently discovered Nightwish and I really like it."

"Nightwish, huh? You pass! Congratulations." Ymir clapped her hands together. "We incorporate a lot of elements from symphonic metal in our music, so you already have a leg up! I'm impressed." Historia didn't seem to notice or care about Ymir's patronizing tone.

"Really?! I hope you guys like my singing."

"I'm sure we will. Let's bring you down to meet the rest of the band." She turned with a welcoming arm pointed at a dingy cement staircase leading down to the basement practice space they were renting. 

As the trio descended, Reiner leaned in to whisper in Ymir's ear. "Real hard test, there." She shot her elbow back into his gut

"Shut up, Reiner."

As the reached the rusty door at the bottom of the stairs, they could hear the muffled sound of an electric guitar soloing. The noise exploded around them as soon as Ymir opened the door to the small room that was packed with instruments, amps, and mic stands that seemed to engulf the few pieces of furniture scattered about.

Lounging back on a ripped up couch and wearing a white hoodie was the source of the sound, another petite blonde shredding a cream colored Gibson Explorer. She didn't seem to notice anyone enter the room as her fingers arpeggiated up and down the fret board at lightning speed.

"Annie! Cut it! Come meet our new tryout! _Annie!_ " Ymir screamed over the blaring music that suddenly came to a halt once she waved a hand in front of her face.

"What?" She lazily turned her head toward them.

Ymir gestured at Annie and looked down at Historia. "And _that_ beautiful sound was produced by Annie 'The Animal' Leonhart."

"Don't call me that." Annie's bored expression never altered. 

Ymir ignored her. "Knows her way around a guitar better than Reiner knows his way around a banana _and_ the fastest shredder in the city _by far._ Utgard's secret weapon."

Annie nodded at Historia as she unplugged the cable from her guitar. "Hey." 

"Nice to meet you. I'm Historia Reiss." She cautiously approached Annie. "You're... really good. How did you learn how to play like that?"

"My dad taught me." She then went back practicing, the tinny sound of the un-amped picking not disrupting any conversation. 

Finally, Ymir strode over to the lanky young man in the room that had been standing in plain sight but whom Historia hadn't really noticed. An ice blue Fender Precision Bass was strapped around his shoulders and hung in front of a Rush t-shirt. However, the book in his hand denoted that he apparently had chosen to read despite Annie's cacophony.

"And this..." Ymir gave him a hard pat on the back and pushed him towards their guest. "...is Bertolt. He plays bass." 

"H-hi there," Bertolt smiled shyly and quickly averted his eyes to the corner of the room.

"Hi to you too!" 

Historia took a moment to let everything sink in as her eyes wandered around the room. "Wow. You guys are like a real rock band." 

"Uh, _yeah._ Why wouldn't we be?" 

"It's just that... I've never seen anything like this before. It's so different from the church where I play."

"Wait, what? You play at a church?" Ymir arched an eyebrow as everyone, even Annie, looked over in surprise. 

"Um, yeah. I play piano and sing at services. Is... Is that okay?" She grabbed her own arm and her face turned red.

"Well... I won't say I'm not a little confused as to why you'd want to join a _metal_ band, but I don't see why not. We don't judge, right guys?" 

Reiner nodded with gusto as he took a seat on the throne behind his enormous orange Ludwig drum kit. "I actually wanted to get into religion one of these days. Maybe you could teach me the... scriptures... or whatever."

"I'd love to! I also teach Sunday school so you'll be in good hands."

Ymir once again dove in front of Reiner and gave a dismissing wave. " _And_ a Sunday school teacher, huh? Full of surprises! Anyway, you don't want to waste your time. There isn't a more ungodly person in the world than this guy."

Reiner threw a spare drumstick that hit her in the back. "Can we just get started, already?"

"Donkey Kong is right. Let's rock and roll." Ymir dusted off a keyboard that had been shoved into the corner of the room. "You can use my old Korg for today, but you'll obviously have to bring your own keys if you join the band."

Historia slipped into a tight to stand behind it, running her hand along the plastic keys. "Do you play?"

"Eh, I dabble. I mainly use it when I'm writing music." Ymir grabbed a pristine black Gibson Les Paul that has been propped up on a guitar stand. "Okay guys, an angel as come down from heaven to play with us today, so be on your best behavior."

"That's what I'm worried about." Annie finally stood up, jacking back into the amp. She walked over to Historia and gave her an appraising look. "Do we even want a _Sunday school teacher_ as the frontman?"

Historia squirmed in discomfort as Annie spoke as if she was not in the room and made no effort to hide her reservation. "W-well I can be a rocker, too."

" _Really._ " 

Ymir stepped in. "Why don't we take it easy, Annie, and give her a chance? It doesn't matter if she doesn't know a whole lot of rock. If she can sing and play keys we can just give her homework to get up to speed." 

"Yeah, Annie. Lighten up!" Reiner added as he rhythmically tapped a pair of sticks on his thighs.

Annie looked from Reiner, to Ymir, then back to Historia and gave her a once over. She signed and turned to Bertolt. "They really can't help themselves, can they?"

Bertolt's face lit up. "Ha! I guess not, but that's okay."

Annie rolled her eyes and got into position. "So what songs do you even know that we could play, Historia?" 

"Um, let me think."

"Are we going to have to do Don't Stop Believin'?" she asked sarcastically.

"Oh, I _love_ Don't Stop Believin'!" Historia hopped up excitedly to reach the keys before realizing the keyboard had to be lowered considerably to match her height. As she leaned over to ratchet the stand down, Annie looked at Ymir completely unamused.

"Joy," she dead panned. Ymir cringed and jumped in.

"Now, now, now, we don't have to play _that_ song. We're not playing at a sorority mixer. What about..." She rubbed her chin as she wracked her brain and suddenly snapped her fingers. "Styx! You _have_ to know something by Styx! Come Sail Away is marginally better than Don't Stop Believin', right?" She looked pleadingly at Historia.

"Oh yeah, I know that!" She beamed with pride.

Ymir turned in anticipation to Annie.

"Whatever. You should have figured this all out beforehand." 

"All right!" She fist pumped in the air. "Okay Historia, just go whenever you're ready. The first half of the song is all you, anyway."

Historia had finally managed to adjust the height of the keyboard and nearly a foot lower and powered it on, flicking through the settings until she was satisfied. She pulled the mic down to mouth level and took a deep breath. 

"I'm ready."


	2. Into the Unknown

"The voice of an angel," Ymir whispered under her breath.

The room fell quiet aside from the low hum of the amps after they finished a near-perfect rendition of Styx's classic single. Ymir was shellshocked. "I'm going to be honest with you, Historia. I was optimistic, but I never thought such a powerful voice could come out of someone as small as you. And you nailed the hell out of the keys!"

Historia was close to trembling from a combination of nerves and anticipation but finally let out a sigh of relief as her face lit up. "Really?! Thank you so much! You all played so well!"

Reiner did a quick paradiddle on his snare and hooted. "Hell yeah, we did! That felt great! Didn't it, _Annie?_ " His smug, cheesy grin spread from ear to ear as everyone turned their attention to the lead guitarist. 

She shot him a pointed glare. "It was just Styx, _Reiner._ " Annie sarcastically mimicked his mocking tone. "We won't know until we play something heavier. " 

Historia shrunk back behind the keyboard and struggled to hide her disappointment at Annie's continued harsh skepticism. "Well... what should we play?"

"Let's ditch the covers and dive right into our stuff, since Miss Annie is so hard to please. Can you read sheet music, Historia?" Ymir asked as she started digging through a beat up backpack at her feet.

Historia nodded. "Yeah, of course." 

"Hear that, guys? _'Of course!'_ " Ymir repeated. "We have a professional in our midst. You should take notes on being a good band member!" She pulled out a huge spiraled notebook and flipped through it. Each page was lined with staves and the entire thing seemed to be filled with musical notations and lyrics that Ymir had written.

"Let's start with this one." She flipped the book over and handed it to Historia who looked down at the song title.

"Another Angel Down..." She started reading through the bars of music and the song began to play in her head. 

"It's the perfect entry point for you. It has a cool keyboard intro _and_ you get to sing a duet with me." She winked at Historia before smirking at Reiner. "Have to keep these other jokers off vocals for a while."

Historia nodded absent-mindedly as she devoted most of her attention to the notes in front of her before a thought struck her. "Oh! I was wondering about something... I saw on your website that you all sing on your original material, so why are you looking for a lead singer?"

"Excellent question that shows you did your homework."

Annie audibly groaned. "You can stop selling it so hard, Ymir. We all know your stance already."

Ymir gave her a dismissive wave and kept her focus on Historia. "Unlike all of the other boring and uninspired bands with no imagination in this city, _Utgard_ plays music that tells a story. And in that story, all of us play a role, as reflected in the lines that each of us sings."

"Wow! Like a Broadway musical?!" The glee was unmistakable in Historia's voice. 

"Uh. Not quite." Ymir grimaced and breathed through her teeth. "More like a metal opera."

"Oh." Historia didn't seem to _quite_ grasp the difference.

"I'm still working out the details of the overall story, but the characters are set. Berty over there is the Watchmaker, Annie is the Stargazer, Reiner is the Specter, and I'm the Serpent..." She wiggled her eyebrows at Historia and hissed playfully. "But what we're missing is the _hero_ of the story, the Scarecrow. None of us really have the timbre for it. And that's where you come in."

"Potentially," Annie amended.

Ymir nodded tersely at her. "Potentially. And you know, we already know _your_ stance too, Annie, so maybe you can tone it down just a little." Held her index finger and thumb in the air and pantomimed adjusting the volume of an amp.

Historia once again seemed uncomfortable by the bickering but tried to stay on topic. "Wow, that sounds fantastical. So it's like Harry Potter?" 

Ymir cringed again and slowly shook her head. "Not _quite._ more like..." She searched her for an appropriate comparison.

"Ymir just played way too much Dungeons and Dragons growing up," interrupted Reiner with a chuckle. 

She flicked a guitar pick at him that struck his forehead. "Gorillas can't talk."

"I-I liked your analogies." Bertolt was smiling awkwardly down at Historia, who seemed disappointed that she couldn't quite hit the mark with her guesses.

"Shut up, Bertolt," said Ymir and Reiner in unison.

"Sorry." He immediately hung his head and began tuning his bass.

" _Anyway..._ Let's take five while we go over the song." Ymir pulled the keyboard away from the wall so she could fit in the space behind it and crouched beside Historia.

Reiner quickly rose from behind his drum kit, his eyes full of envy. "Wait, is there anything I can do to help?" 

"You're a drummer, not a musician. How could you possibly help, dude?"

Reiner paused to think for a moment before letting out a sigh of defeat. "I'm going out for a smoke." Moments later, he was out the door. Annie once again plopped onto the couch, unplugged her guitar, and did finger exercises. Bertolt went back to his book.

Ymir rested her back against the wall as she leaned in close to Historia. Very close. "So the intro here is pretty self explanatory." She hummed the opening keyboard riff. 

"Okay." Historia reached up to recreate it on the keyboard.

"Exactly. Then guitars come in for a bit before I start off on vocals." She pointed to lyrics written under the music highlighted in orange. "All your stuff is highlighted in pink." She shifted her finger to Historia's lines and looked down at her pink sweater. "And I swear the choice in color was a coincidence. It was just the last highlighter in the pack I hadn't used."

Historia laughed. Ymir thought it sounded like the ringing of church bells. 

"So I come in here? _God left me for dead..._ " She sung the first few words before stopping. "Oh, these lyrics are... interesting."

Ymir slapped a hand to her forehead. "Oh yikes. That whole God thing. Uh..." Her eyes darted back and forth as her mind raced. "This isn't God in the _Biblical_ sense, per se. More in a Pagan sense. You guys don't like those Pagan gods, right?"

Historia blinked at Ymir. "Um, no I don't think so. But it's fine. I'm auditioning for your band because I want a change of pace, anyway. I don't want special treatment." Historia was staring intensely at Ymir with what looked like a deep sense of determination. 

Ymir looked up at the ceiling and rubbed the back of her neck. "Okay, yeah, I lied. It's a more mythical concept, but there is some biblical inspiration in the story that's not _super_ positive..." She patted Historia on the shoulder awkwardly. "But it's good to hear that you don't mind! Let's get back to work."

After five minutes, Reiner came back into the room smelling of tobacco. "We good?"

Ymir hopped up from beside Historia. "You bet! She's a lethally quick learner!" She gave him a thumbs up and an optimistic nod as they both tried to read Annie's inscrutable face while the band took their places. 

"Finally." Annie plugged the cable in again and grabbed a pick.

"Another Angel Down! Let's kill it!" She gave Historia a reassuring nod. "You're going to do great. Just use your diaphragm and belt. No head voices in this band, right guys?"

"I would certainly hope not," said Annie before giving Reiner an icy look. "Count us off, Reiner."

He immediately grabbed his sticks as a look of fear washed over him. "Yes ma'am." He held them up in the air and clacked them together. "One. Two. One, two, three, four!"

Historia took a breath and opened her eyes. One beat after the final clack, she pressed hard into the keys and her fingers rocked back and forth as she hammered out the intro before Ymir, Annie, and Bertolt joined in together. The music thundering from the amps behind them was far heavier and faster than any Styx song while still remaining incredibly melodic.

As she played, Ymir positioned her mouth right in front of the standing mic before her and waited for her cue.

" _I am the master of the game that made a fool of you. I'm watching from the highest tower..._ " She was hitting high notes but there was a gravel in her voice that gave it a slightly menacing timbre. Historia had heard a bit of the vocals online but in person, she was blown away. It reminded her of a lion's roar or what she thought one of those pagan gods might sound like. 

As Ymir continued to sing the first verse, Historia was so in awe that she nearly missed her own cue. Luckily, she snapped herself out of it at the right time and belted as hard as she could.

"God left me for dead. Been turning my head away from the living. The time has come..."

During the bridge after the chorus, Historia got a chance to look around at the rest of the band. Ymir and Reiner were grinning at each other and even Bertolt was smiling more than she had seen in their brief acquaintanceship. Finally, with hesitation she turned to Annie, who despite still looking like she no love for their new tryout, seemed surprised and maybe even slightly impressed. 

It was then that Historia was finally able to relax. She was certainly out of her element, but something about where she was, the people she was with, and the music she was playing and singing felt right. She knew that if she got the gig, she would be headed down an unfamiliar road, but she knew that was for the best.

They finished the song and took a moment to let the reverb from the amps die down. Ymir's gaze wandered around the room before falling on Historia.

"I'm just going to say it. Welcome aboard, Historia."

Historia felt the knot in her stomach release and a rush of joy overcame her. "Really?!"

Annie stepped in front of Ymir and looked up at her in frustration. "That was good, but are we not even going to put it to a vote?"

Ymir rolled her eyes and extended her arms our to the band. "Fine. Let's vote. All in favor of Historia becoming the fifth and final member of Utgard?"

Ymir and Reiner shot their arms into the air followed by Bertolt who cautiously rose his hand while giving Annie an apologetic look. 

"All opposed?"

Annie watched her bandmates lower their hands before heaving a resigned shrug. "Who cares?"

"The ayes have it!" Ymir shouted as she began clapping, joined shortly by Reiner and Bertolt. 

Historia's eyes began to well with tears as the three applauded her and she bashfully wiped them away. "I'm so honored. Thank you so much."

"You earned it. Just keep singing and playing like you just did and you'll repay us a thousand times over." Ymir took off her guitar and went over to Historia, placing a hand gently on her upper arm. "You can stop crying now."

Historia hadn't even realize that the waterworks were still going. She did her best to stop the flow of tears as her face turned bright red. "I-I'm sorry. I was just really looking forward to this and I'm so happy you guys like my voice." The sleeve of her sweater became damp as she continually rubbed her puffy eyes.

"So we get to deal with _crying_ now. Excellent frontman quality," said Annie as she casually kicked back on the couch.

"And _you_ can stop being such a bitch, Annie. We're having an emotional moment here, so a few tears are nothing to be ashamed of." She rose her thump to carefully wipe one last wet spot on Historia's face. "And don't you worry about fronting. When I'm through with you, you'll be the most hardcore heavy metal queen anyone has ever seen. The whole city will know your name."

Historia suddenly gulped and squirmed in her corner. " _Everyone?_ "

"That's the plan! Fame, fortune, babes, you know. The whole deal." Ymir placed both hands on the keyboard and leaned in excitedly. "Doesn't that sound awesome?!"

"As long as I get the most babes," Reiner interjected.

Ymir snapped her head towards him. "Only the trashiest skanks go for drummers, so you can keep them." 

Historia rubbed her hands together nervously. "That sounds fun... Well maybe not the babes part, but being successful would be nice, but..." She started to sweat slightly at her hairline. Her anxiety was so apparent that Bertolt felt nervous for her and began to sweat himself. "There's just one problem and I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," she almost whispered.

Ymir's face became serious and she arched an eyebrow. "What's the problem?"

"My sister doesn't know I'm here today and she wouldn't approve of me joining a metal band at all."

"Here we go..." said Annie with a mixture of irritation and vindication.

Ymir snapped her fingers at Annie to be quiet without turning to her. "I mean, you're an adult. She should respect your decisions, right?"

Historia hung her head and looked down at the keyboard. "I live with her, and she's very protective of me. Like _really_ overprotective."

" _Baggage._ " Annie didn't even bother looking at her friends as she fired off her comments.

Ymir once again ignored her and furrowed her brow as she started to think. "You know what? That's not even remotely a problem." 

Historia gasped and looked up, her eyes full of hope. "What do you mean?"

"All you need is a stage name." A devious, plotting grin crept to her face. "With a new wardrobe, some makeup, a stage name, and some education from the school of rock, you'll be completely unrecognizable. If you're discreet about it, your weird sister will be none the wiser!" Ymir leaned back, wholly pleased with her idea. 

Historia seemed interested but unsure. "A stage name? I wouldn't even know where to start. What would it be?"

Ymir rubbed her chin. "Hmmm... What about Crystal?"

Annie scoffed as she picked at her unplugged guitar. "Sounds like a stripper name."

"Not that there's anything wrong with strippers." Reiner sat up straight and raised a finger in the air to add punctuation to his point.

Ymir groaned and buried her face in her palm. "First of all, shut up, Reiner. Trying way too hard again. Secondly, Annie's right. Give me a minute to think." 

She sat down in a beanbag chair beside her guitar and bounced a leg as she stared at the ceiling as if that would help her focus. "I've got it! 'Crystal' Krista Lenz! Get it? And with a 'K' and a 'Z' to capture that eighties vibe." 

Annie lowered her eyebrows at Ymir. "Do you really have to give _everyone_ a stupid nickname?"

"Well _I_ thought it was cool. Fine. No 'Crystal.' What do you think, Historia?"

Everyone turned to her as she ran it over in her head. She hadn't known quite what to expect when she came to audition that day, but she never guessed that she'd be taking on a new persona and moving so far out of her comfort zone. 

After several moments of reflection, she looked up at Ymir and nodded resolutely. "I like it. I'll be Krista Lenz."


End file.
